Waste Processing Area 3
Waste Processing Area 3 is a Black Mesa Research Facility area, located topside and in lower levels of the facility. It is first introduced at the very end of the Half-Life chapter Surface Tension, and is seen later in Half-Life: Opposing Force, where it covers the chapter Pit Worm's Nest. Overview In the section seen in Half-Life can be found a Tactical Map originally manned by Cooper, a now dead HECU soldier, and used by Gordon Freeman to defeat the chasing Gargantua and clear the way ahead, leading to the Sector F. The other side leads to the Topside Motorpool, linked to Waste Processing Area 3 through a large tunnel leading to an underground parking lot where the Gargantua is met. An underground section of Waste Processing Area 3 is visited in Opposing Force. That area comprises several Waste Stations and a main Toxic Disposal Basin, where Adrian Shephard discovers the Pit Worm. It also includes two garbage compactors; the G-Man can be seen in one, observing Shephard's movements. In that area Shephard must use toxic waste to defeat the Pit Worm. To do so, he must activate the steam vent (located near the creature), the main pressure valve (also located near the creature, and to be accessed thanks to the hand-held Barnacle and Spore Launcher spores on the wall, since the ladder to access the valve is broken) and the primary pump gearbox (located in Waste Station 02, another area, and by using an emergency override button) to unlock the toxic waste arrival, then release the toxic waste with the waste flush button, flooding the room with toxic waste and killing the creature. After that, Shephard merely has to activate the bridge previously blocked by the Pit Worm, and cross the Toxic Disposal Basin room to proceed further, in sewers leading to hangars in Sector G. Mostly filled with Pit Drones, a few Bullsquids and dead HECU soldiers, that section is connected from one side to Specimen Observation Area 03 in Sector E's Biodome Complex by the ventilation system; the other side is connected to a series of Black Ops-controlled Sector G hangars leading to the Hydro-Electric Dam. It is unknown how it is connected to the Waste Processing Area 3 section seen in Half-Life. Behind the scenes *The Pit Worm obstacle is similar - albeit less challenging - to the Tentacle puzzle in the Half-Life chapter Blast Pit, in that the player cannot simply use his weapons to defeat the creature, but must use the surrounding environment. *The two garbage compactors featured in Opposing Force are directly designed after the Death Star's garbage compactor seen in the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. *The valve and the gearbox to be activated are obvious references to Valve Software and Gearbox Software, left there as Easter eggs. The reference to Steam is likely a coincidence, as it did not exist back then. Trivia There is a rather large bug in the mapping of the second garbage compactor featured in Opposing Force. If one leave the control room above after pushing the button closing the compactor, it is occasionally possible to die when the plates are moving, possibly because they are very close to the ground of the control room. The two Pit Drones met there may also be subject to that bug, and die as well. Gallery ''Half-Life'' File:Tactical map from above.jpg|The Tactical Map in Waste Processing Area 3, from above. File:Tactical map.jpg|The Tactical Map. File:Cooper dead.jpg|Cooper lying dead near the Tactical Map. ''Half-Life: Opposing Force'' File:Dead HECU pit worm.jpg|Dead HECU soldiers in a corridor. File:Of4a5000000.jpg|One of the two Star Wars garbage compactors. File:Of4a4000001.jpg|Ditto, with the G-Man looking above. File:Of4a40002.jpg|Detail of the G-Man. File:Pit drones idle.jpg|Idle Pit Drones. File:Steam vent.jpg|The steam vent lever. File:Pressure valve.jpg|The pressure valve. File:Steam pit worm.jpg|The steam is released. File:Pit worm laser.jpg|The Pit Worm firing its eye laser. File:Pit worm laser blood.jpg|Ditto, hitting Shephard. File:Pit worm base.jpg|Bottom of the basin, showing that the Pit Worm came from the ground. File:Pit Worm's Nest4.jpg|The Pit Worm standing lower in the basin. File:Of4a4000001.jpg|The flooded Star Wars garbage compactor near Pit Worm's nest. File:Pit Worm's Nest2.jpg|Near the primary pump gearbox. File:Gearbox emergency override.jpg|The primary pump gearbox emergency override button. File:Valve and Gearbox.jpg|The gearbox and the valve shown to be activated. File:Pit worm what is this.jpg|The toxic waste starts spreading in the water, the Pit Worm wondering what is happening. File:Pit worm damn it hurts.jpg|The Pit Worm starts being hurt by the toxic waste. File:Pit worm I'm melting what a world1.jpg|The Pit Worm sinks into the toxic waste. File:Pit worm I'm melting what a world2.jpg|Ditto. File:Pit worm I'm melting what a world3.jpg|Ditto. File:Pit worm gibs.jpg|The Pit Worm is no more. File:Pit worm bridge.jpg|Shephard summons the moving bridge to leave the area. List of appearances *''Half-Life'' *''Half-Life: Opposing Force'' Category:Black Mesa Research Facility locations Category:Locations Category:Half-Life Category:Half-Life: Opposing Force